Michael Phelps’ interview with Joe Buck on Undeniable, the announcer’s DirecTV interview show, airs Wednesday and included among the obvious discussions about Olympic memories, gold medals, Phelps’ famous mother and, more soberly, the difficulties of rehab, is an interesting discussion about what was perhaps the biggest Michael Phelps scandal of them all: That time a British tabloid posted a picture of the swimming great holding a bong up to his mouth.
As a refresher, in 2009 a British tabloid printed a picture of Phelps holding a bong, appearing to be smoking marijuana, at the University of South Carolina in November of 2008, three months after his triumphant, historic eight-gold medal performance in Beijing. Phelps reportedly tried to buy the picture first, but the News of the World got it, printed it, blew it up into a worldwide scandal and eventually got Phelps suspended for three months.
Phelps has talked about the incident many times before, but Buck took an interesting angle with his questioning, suggesting the bad guy in the story wasn’t Phelps, but the person who took (and presumably sold) the photo. Phelps discussed this:
“There were six people in that house and one person that I didn’t really know is the one [who took the picture]. I know who it is. I know his name. What can I do?”
Then, Buck said that Phelps’ lawyers had told him they could have made the photographer’s life a “living hell,” (though he doesn’t say how, as the South Carolina photo consent statutes are iffy as to the illegality of what happened):
“That kid’s gotta look at himself in the mirror every day. Karma’s a bitch. [Applause.] For me, it’s like, yeah, I messed up. I made a choice to do that. Nobody twisted my arm to do anything. I put myself in that position. And somebody took a picture of me. The thing for me is that I understand — doing what I’ve done — I’ve essentially written away privacy.”
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
It’s a little off-putting how Phelps accepts the slight role of victim in this, especially given his other brushes with the law. It’s ridiculous that so much was made of the incident (the attitude toward pot has changed so much in six years) but the lack of privacy and creepy people taking your pictures comes with the territory of being an all-time great. (Though who would ever have expected that a swimmer would be so famous.)
Still, as with any athlete, you do have to feel for them. Phelps said he and his fiancee are basically homebodies because he can rarely make it through a meal without getting interrupted.
“I don’t leave my house very often. It’s a way of life nowadays. It’s what this world is.”
(USA TODAY Sports Images)
